TMC, CPI solo run will hit INDIA: Oppn leaders

GOP veteran plays down rift; says it’ll be a friendly fight

NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress and the CPI deciding to go it alone in West Bengal and Jharkhand respectively has dealt a big blow to the INDIA bloc and its efforts to unitedly fight and defeat the BJP across the country, some opposition leaders have said.

After the TMC’s strong rebuff to the Congress by announcing candidates for all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, the grand old party has now initiated talks with the CPI-M for a possible tie-up in the state.

The Left parties have also said the remaining INDIA bloc members would have to restrategise to defeat the TMC and the BJP in West Bengal “to save democracy”. Sources said West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has initiated talks with the CPI and CPI-M for a possible seat-sharing deal.

Even as some members of the INDIA grouping are fighting

against each other, the Congress has invited the leaders of all the parties to its public rally in Mumbai on March 17 to mark the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

“We have extended an invitation to all parties to attend the joint public rally of INDIA bloc in Mumbai on March 17

and we expect all the parties to be together on one platform on the occasion,” said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh. When asked about INDIA bloc constituents up against each other, a senior Congress leader did not rule out the possibility of a friendly fight in some states.

We have extended an invitation to all parties to attend the joint public rally of INDIA bloc in Mumbai on March 17 — Jairam Ramesh